Photo: South Dakota Department of Corrections
A South Dakota inmate was executed on Monday after his 1992 crime.
Charles Rhines was killed by lethal injection at 7:39 p.m. this week for the murder of 22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer at a Rapid City doughnut shop.
He was originally scheduled to be killed at 1:30 p.m. but the execution was delayed for hours due to the U.S Supreme Court considering Rhine's appeals.
Rhines was trying to argue that South Dakota's drug of choice wouldn't act quickly enough and most notably he tried to claim that the jurors only gave him the death penalty because he was gay.
The court heavily denied this.
In a statement to the media after the execution, South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg said “Today I would like to remember Donnivan Schaeffer, the victim who was brutally murdered by the killer who met justice earlier.”
“Words cannot express the sorrow I feel for the fact that Donnivan was killed but I am glad we were finally able to get justice for him today. I am hopeful that this day is an opportunity for the family to move forward and now, that this phase is over, they can continue to heal,” Ravnsborg said..
Sadly according to the attorney general Rhines had no apology before his death.
Instead he had a few words for the parents of his victims before he died.
"Ed and Peggy Schaeffer, I forgive you for your anger and hatred towards me," he said. "I pray to God that he forgives you for your anger and hatred towards me"
Sad.
There are no words for this.
For more information, please read here.